Lee vows that Korea will become 'reliable' partner to local, global content creators during France visit

President Lee Jae Myung vowed that the Korean government will become a “reliable partner” to local cultural content creators and the global film industry while meeting with filmmakers and industry stakeholders in France on Monday.

“The Korean government pledges to serve as a reliable partner and spare no policy or institutional support to actively foster global co-production, investment and distribution partnerships in the film and video industries,” Lee said at a roundtable meeting on the margins of the Lumière Summit, centered on the future of cinema, in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, a resort town in southeastern France.

Korean attendees at the roundtable, under the theme “New Perspectives on Local and Global Co-prosperity,” included CJ Group Vice Chairwoman Miky Lee, CJ ENM CEO Yoon Sang-hyun, Tving CEO Julie Choi, SLL CEO Park Joon-suh, Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon and Nexon CEO Kang Dae-hyun.

Isabel Haskey, a vice president at Netflix, and Antoine Capton, the CEO of Mediawan, a French media group, also attended.

“Your role is crucial in discovering hidden local gems, connecting them to global audiences and cultivating a sustainable industrial ecosystem,” President Lee said to them, calling for practical and strategic cooperation measures for the global film and audiovisual industries to achieve mutual prosperity.

“We live in an era when local uniqueness translates to the most global competitiveness,” he continued. “Over the years, unique narratives from various regions, including K-films and K-dramas, have resonated deeply with people around the world. They extend beyond the achievements of a specific nation to expand the horizons of global culture and enrich the global film and video ecosystem.”

He then shared a vision for establishing a “robust, virtuous cycle partnership,” in which global capital and distribution networks work with compelling local stories to revitalize regional production ecosystems and ultimately enhance the competitiveness of global platforms.

President Lee also held a separate dialogue with Korean directors and actors on the future of K-content, during which he discussed ways to support the sustainability of the Korean film industry and listened to creators who are elevating Korean cinema on the global stage.

Participants included directors Lee Chang-dong and July Jung and actors Jeon Do-yeon and Sul Kyung-gu.

During the dialogue, director Lee Chang-dong asked the president to consider a French-style film financing policy that provides large-scale tax benefits to private investors, referring to Sofica, a 40-year-old mechanism in France that offers individual investors an income tax reduction of up to 48 percent for financing cinematic productions.

“I will have relevant ministries, such as the Ministry of Finance and Economy, look into it immediately upon my return,” President Lee responded, promising to share the results later.

“While the future of Korea includes high-tech industries, I believe that the cultural industry, which fosters public sentiment and empathy, will become a core industry,” the president said, stressing that this is the country’s “competitive edge.”

“Independent films, pure culture and the arts sector are largely marginalized, and countless people working in these fields are struggling to make a living. From now on, we will implement policies that are tangible and beyond what many people working in the cultural and arts fields have ever imagined.”

President Lee also met separately with Charles Rivkin, the chairman of the Motion Picture Association; Ted Sarandos, the co-CEO of Netflix; and executives from the association’s member film companies including The Walt Disney Company, Sony Pictures Entertainment and NBCUniversal, alongside CJ Group Vice Chairwoman Miky Lee.

“I believe that Korea is the best place to create works that touch people’s hearts and resonate with others, even without making blockbusters through massive investments,” President Lee said, earning laughter from attendees. He then shared his views on the uniqueness of Korean cultural content, created with meticulousness and exceptional craftsmanship.

President Lee also attended an official luncheon for the Lumière Summit, hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron and attended by some 200 people, including culture ministers and stakeholders in the film and audiovisual industries.

At the summit, the Korean and French leaders agreed to invest a total of 1 billion euros ($1.16 billion), or 500 million euros each, in the film and video industries over the next five years, from 2027 to 2031.

President Lee arrived in Paris later on Monday for a bilateral summit with Macron on Tuesday as part of his four-day state visit to France.

BY SARAH KIM [[email protected]]